No need to remove them, although I do pull them off if they're the plastic coated labels and if they pull off easy enough. I don't worry about the paper labels. They fall off by Spring and they're biodegradable anyway.

I used a variety of containers last year but found they were too shallow, plus a lot of lids blew off or cracked meaning it was hard to keep the trays moist once the heat and sun turned on in the spring. SO this year I am trying baggies. I found 8 large-size freezer bags for $1 at Dollarama. I've filled them about 1/3 full of soil as per the instructions at wintersown.org, then sprinkled with seed and covered lightly if necessary. I have also used the write-on portion on the outside of the bag to write the name of whatever's sown inside - handy! My only question would be, come spring, what would happen if any of the baby plants had their leaves touching the plastic, because I would think that would cause problems. Also, a drawback I can see already is that bags of soil, especially topped with delicate fragile seedlings, are not as easy to move around as pots. But I guess they take up much less space! Anyway, I'd love to hear from other Canadians who have experience with this! Here is a link that might be useful: My modest winter sowing 2009

Often I remember to put the bags in the car, but forget to take them in the store to recycle -- But, when I open the hatch to put the groceries in the car, I then see the bags I forgot. Sometimes I just put the bags in the shopping cart before returning to coral. I keep my fingers crossed that the next person to use the cart (or the store attendant) will bring them to their proper place. Here is a link that might be useful: Creative Ways to Use Plastic Grocery Bags

Hi y'all -- sorry this thread got away from me and I never looked back after a certain point. I know there are fellow inveterate plastic-rescuers around. But it's ironic to find myself in this position because there are few who hate plastic as much as I; I hate it so much I can't throw it away because that will generate more pressure for it. It's the bottomless cup-paradigm - if you don't like the drink, draining the cup won't put a stop to it. Or something. I have confusion about the issue of safety and plastics. Much of what I read I believe is not true. I would never heat any plastic-encased food, really, in a MW. Having no kitchen for a while I've resorted occasionally to premade costco foods in plastic containers that can nominally go in an oven. But they melt. How scary is that?? However the stuff about washing bags leeching vinyls or whatever it is that's claimed -- I don't believe that. I think age can start vinyls to fall apart, but washing? nuh-uh. Food grade plastic: did you know most of those "tshirt bags" are not rated for food? You're not supposed to put food in em. I gave up worrying about that long ago; life's too short. Everyone does it. I try to remember not to, but frankly that particular scare has been pushed out of my forebrain at some point. BTW I love how the ones most vocal in "sharing information" about how washing plastics results in unsafe plastic to use are ... water bottlers. My kids regularly get scolded by teachers for reusing water bottles. It makes them feel badly. And I try to spare them the public humiliation the teachers sometimes put them through regarding this. I think the humiliation is likely far worse for them than the supposed vinyl slough-off. I think mold in plastics can certainly be a problem; it can be hard if not impossible to adequately clean plastics of mold if not food residue. But disintegrating plastic? I don't think so, not usually, not unless heated. Much of my feelings on this subject are generated by a friend who is a much-awarded materials chemist. Anyway... there are lots of good hints in this thread that I thank one and all for. More tales from the war zone of neurotic inability to throw-away: I have been - not once or even twice but several times in the past - been threatened with arrest for refusing to take a bag for goods purchased at a store. My kids don't believe me about this, but it's true: not so very long ago (and more so in certain parts of the country) it was considered just shy of insane, certainly unpatriotic and utterly criminal, to wish to leave a store without one's purchases in a bag. When I forget to bring a bag into a store or don't bring a large-enough one, my "punishment" is to leave the store with everything in my cart: I tell the cashier that my car is a big-enough storage vessel for it. This usually gets a smile. BTW, part of this neurosis is wanting to avoid purchasing a container when there are so many orphan-containers around. If you have recourse to a perfectly acceptable in-want-of-reusing container and instead go out and buy one, that's generating unneeded demand and pressure on resources. That's how the neurotic argument goes.... And finally: books. They are clearly their own species and worthy of building houses for, are they not? (another primary reason for renovating here!) But I have recently discovered PaperbackBookSwap. If this isn't better than sliced bread I don't know what is. You can swap your done/disliked books for someone else's. There are so many books out there I'd like to just have around in case I ever found time to read anything again -- this is the way to do it. I cannot tell you how much fun this has been. It's not just for paperbacks either. If you want me to send you a signup link, I think you or I or both of us get a free credit or two. Email me and I'll send you the link. No worries if you'd rather sign up independently; I have more credits than I can likely read through before I die! Here is a link that might be useful: Book exchange site